“In the past when I was
detained I had to have a policewoman come with me to the bathroom, but this was
something different.

This time they checked me naked, completely, without my
underwear. They dragged me on the floor 15 meters; my arms are bruised. They
put me in a cell without a bed, with three other prisoners, including a
prostitute and a car thief. They threw the food through a little window in the
door. I laid on the floor covered with my tallit.

“I’m a tough cookie, but I
was just so miserable. And for what? I was with the Hadassah women saying Sh’ma
Israel.”

The
leadership of Women of the Wall remain committed to their struggle to gain the
right of all women to pray at the Kotel, each according to her own custom, with
Torah, Tallit and voices raised in song. Violence, intimidation and threat will
not deter the group of women from joining together and praying together to
celebrate every new Jewish month at the Western Wall.

Given that
she struggled to be admitted to the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and
was finally allowed to matriculate together with rabbinical students under the
condition that she never ask to be ordained, in all likelihood she would have
been at the Kotel, determined to find a way for women to pray there.

At the
very least, no doubt Anat Hoffman is correct when she says that the Women of
the Wall organization is more deserving of the prize than Bibi is.

The vision
of Henrietta Szold, whose unique brand of leadership encompassed the social
feminist movement of her day as well as an inclusive, diverse vision of Jewish
peoplehood, was much more akin to the work of Women of the Wall than to any
aspect of the current Israeli government’s leadership.

In any
case, the women’s Zionist organization should not be silent now regarding this
violation of the rights of women in Zion.

These events are
unacceptable and an affront to Jews worldwide who treasure Israel as a vibrant
democracy committed to the right of gender equality and religious
freedom." said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform
Judaism."Israeli
governmental leaders and law enforcement must ensure that the right of women to
pray at the Wall is protected and arrests such as those that occurred last
night are prevented from ever happening again."

The notion of the “big tent” took on a whole new meaning in the world of Orthodox
feminism this week as leading Orthodox women from Israel and North America
gathered in the Sukkah of Dr. Hannah Kehat, founding director of the Kolech
Religious Women’s Forum, to examine gender issues facing the Orthodox
communities around the world.
The meeting was the first of its kind in which
Orthodox feminist leaders from the two countries of Israel and the United
States met for the purpose of exploring their common agenda and toying with
ways to make Orthodox feminism a more cohesive international movement.
Participants left with an eager energy, earnestly anticipating next steps.

A member
of the Peruvian
B'nai Moshe community (also known as the "Inca Jews"), who
arrived in Israel a year and a half ago to care for her ailing father, is
sitting in jail awaiting deportation for having overstayed her tourist visa.

The
critical social bonds and memories of the experience function to foster
creativity and a sense of responsibility for the Jewish people both at home and
worldwide. And these young adults are the ones who will maintain the bridge
between Israel and the Diaspora in the years to come.